The Fate of Nova Chrysalia
by LittleMeister93
Summary: When a mysterious force pulls Lightning Farron into the Hoenn region, she is faced with a new challenge. But when she meets Mindwarp, a particularly intelligent Kadabra, the rather unlikely duo are the only ones that stand to change the fate of Nova Chrysalia. (Some speculative material included)
1. Chapter 1

Slateport City. The bustling centre of sea-based trade and the odd Pokémon Contest. Many people came through the city day in, day out, carrying loads of goods along with the help of several strong Pokémon. Some had a Vigoroth to do their heavy lifting while others would have a Hariyama or a Machoke. Nonetheless, people and Pokémon in Slateport always worked together and it seemed that that was not going to change.

Or perhaps it was. One particular Pokémon visiting the city seemed to stay out of everyone's way, showing little interest in the social aspects even as people turned to stare. It wasn't every day one saw a lone Kadabra wandering without a Trainer.

But it was something that Mindwarp had grown used to. He'd always been wary of humans, even when Ellie became his first Trainer some three years ago. She had been a fairly decent Trainer... right up until she decided that a Magikarp was more deserving of her attention than he was, even after he had evolved. The only real positive memory he had of her was the time she spent teaching him to speak and understand human language, but that was of little comfort to him. For some reason, even though it had been several months since he had voluntarily left her, he sometimes missed the security it brought. To have someone to turn to when he needed it, to have somewhere safe to sleep and to have regular meals. It proably didn't help that he was not a particularly social Pokémon, and so had few acquaintances and even fewer friends.

He'd teleported up to the roof of the Pokémon centre for some peace and quiet and that was when he felt a tear fall from one eye. Rubbing it away, he huffed to himself. Since when did he ever _cry_ about anything? Scratching at his snout as he usually did when pondering an important matter, he watched the world go by from his vantage point, thinking about what could possibly cause him to let out any emotion at all when he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. Frowning briefly, he moved towards the edge of the roof, peering at the figure emerging through the light. At first the silhouette was hard to make out but eventually he saw a vaguely human-like shape, a woman dressed in what looked like armour that covered most of her body. Her hair was a shade of light pink, much like the fur of a Skitty, and she stood tall and proud despite the fact that she appeared lost.

Slowly jumping down from the roof, Mindwarp continued to watch the new arrival to the Hoenn region, sharp eyes watching her as she looked around with a confused yet composed gaze, seemingly in her element. He watched her as she walked down towards the city's edge before he followed her, curiosity getting the better of him. Who was she and what was her purpose here in Hoenn? Staunching his wariness, he stepped up to the strange woman and glanced up at her. She didn't seem to pay much heed until she looked down and saw him, causing the both of them to jump.

"Who-?" The pink-haired woman had a voice that sounded militant and commanding, though the psychic-type did detect the faint hint of confusion laced within it. "Wh-What are you?" It took her a moment to find the correct words.

"I presume this is your first time in Hoenn?" _Obviously_. The woman looked completely lost. "I'm a Pokémon native to this region. Specifically, a psychic type."

"There seems to be a lot to take in here, but I cannot stay here in Hoenn. My own world is in danger and I must return there as soon as possible."

Mindwarp could easily pick up on the urgency in the woman's tone, scratching at his snout with a claw while he thought of a way to return her to her own world. "Which world?" She explained that it was called Nova Chrysalia, and that it was what remained of Gran Pulse and Cocoon, also telling him that she only had thirteen days in which to save this world. The psychic-type nodded on occasion, listening to what she had to say. "Thinking about it... there is a rumour of a portal hidden beneath the desert sands past Route 111." She prompted him to carry on, hoping that this could lead her back to her world. "We would have to travel out of Slateport City and go along Route 110 to reach Mauville City. Then, we'll need to head north from there via Route 111 and cross into the desert."

"We?" The woman cocked her head to the side, crossing her arms over her armoured chest. Mindwarp let out a breath, his bushy tail dropping against the ground with a muffled, gentle thud.

"I assumed you wanted a guide. If you think you can find your own way to the desert, then I won't stop you..." She shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder just as he was about to leave. The contact made him bristle a little but he turned to face her. "Alright then. I'll help you get to the desert." He hesitated just momentarily. "Though if we are going to be working together... we should at least know each others' names..."

"Lightning. Just Lightning." Her introduction was short and sharp, showing that she really wasn't planning on sticking around. "And what about you?"

"It's Mindwarp." His introduction was just as brief, though his stemmed more from the fact that he distrusted humans, but after hearing Lightning's story, he was in a different mindset. If he didn't at least try to get her home, she would have no home to return to. Such a burden did weigh on the psychic-type's mind but he had already resolved that he was going to get Lightning back home. If he didn't, the potential destruction of an entire world would rest on his shoulders, and he did not wish for that. "Anyway, we'll begin by leaving Slateport City." Rummaging through the thick fur of his tail, which he'd managed to find a few uses for, he pulled out a Pokénav. Activating the device, he projected a map of the entire Hoenn region in front of them.

"Is this Hoenn?" Lightning felt as if she were asking the most obvious question but she simply wanted to be sure. Mindwarp nodded and pointed out a floating, flashing red dot on the map.

"That is our current position." Using the tip of his claw to trace a path in the hologram, he pointed out Route 110, Mauville City and Route 111 to the pinkette. "It looks like a straight path on here, but we'll have to be careful on the routes between cities. Hoenn convention states that if two Pokémon Trainers lock eyes, they must battle." At the look of confusion on the warrior's face, he quickly explained what Pokémon Trainers were and the basics of the battles. She nodded as he turned off the map projection, switching the Pokénav off and stashing it in his tail.

"Lead the way then," and so the newly-formed duo headed out of Slateport City and along Route 110.


	2. Chapter 2

Route 110 was oddly busy for a weekend, with Trainers heading in and out of Slateport more frequently than usual. It did make sense since it was coming up to Mewmas and most of the shops in the larger cities had already closed for the holidays. Lightning kept her gaze down on the ground, remembering the convention that she had been told just a few moments prior. If she wanted to get back to Nova Chrysalia, she had no time to be pulled into unnecessary battles. Mindwarp kept watch ahead, trying to see if they could ask someone for a shortcut to the desert.

"Lightning, this way." He gently tugged the warrior's arm, leading her to the right, past the Trick Master's house (which he knew would only cause more unnecessary delays) and through the spontaneous patches of tall grass that grew along the low road. The high road would have gotten them to Mauville quicker but since neither of them had a bike, that was not an option.

"What's the point of leaving all these patches of grass around?" The pink-haired saviour founded it bizarre.

"Because these are where-" Mindwarp's answer was cut short as a wild Gulpin appeared before them, looking ready to ambush them. "We'll talk about this later." Taking out his silver spoon, he glared at the Gulpin before shaking his head. This was going to be an easy battle... if one could even call it a battle.

"There aren't any other Pokémon Trainers nearby, so why-" He cut her short and told her that wild Pokémon were found in tall grass before he focused on the Gulpin, the air shifting and warping, morphing into shades of red, black and purple before he threw his hands forward, the red five-pointed star on his head glowing as he unleashed a concentrated beam of psychic energy upon his foe, knocking the Gulpin backwards so hard that it fainted immediately.

"Too easy," he muttered to himself before Lightning glanced over at him, nodding in approval at how quickly he'd finished the battle. They kept on walking through the tall grass, keeping an eye out for any other wild Pokémon that might ambush them, but none did. None of the other Pokémon Trainers wandering seemed to be paying them any heed. They were too busy training the Pokémon they had and not particularly interested in battling.

Finally, the tall grass thinned out and Mindwarp could see the familiar sight of Mauville City up ahead. He led Lightning through the city while keeping his head down. Some boys approached the pink-haired saviour and tried to ask her to battle with them. She politely declined and sent them on their way. Now was not the time. The psychic-type pulled out his Pokénav and projected the map in front of them again. This time the red dot was centred in Mauville City, confirming that they had arrived at their first checkpoint.

"Alright, so we're now in Mauville City. Now, if we follow Route 111 right up here..." He pointed to where the road had a sharp bend. "...and turn right, we'll be heading into the desert." It was just then that a man dressed in hiking gear ran up while Mindwarp was putting the map away.

"Wait a minute, you two want to go to the desert on Route 111? But why?" The hiker's chiselled features creased into a frown. "Unless you're hunting for wild Sandshrews, I wouldn't recommend it." For a moment, the duo pondered over whether they should tell the stranger why they were going there, but Lightning suggested that they should.

"We're looking for a portal that's said to reside beneath the desert sands," the pinkette explained, "and my companion here is the one who told me of it." The hiker's gaze shifted between her and Mindwarp for a few moments before he reached into the pack slung over his shoulder and pulled out two pairs of goggles and a rolled up piece of paper.

"Here." He handed them each a pair of goggles and gave Lightning the paper. "The goggles I've given you both, those are Go-Goggles. They'll allow you to see through the sandstorms that rage across the desert. And this," he gently fingered the rolled-up paper in Lightning's hand, "is a map of the desert area. I've marked on a few points of interest but if you're looking for the portal, you need to go to the far east and look for the Pedestal of the Unown." The pink-haired warrior frowned in confusion for a moment before she nodded, assuming it would probably make sense when they found this pedestal. Bidding them good luck and farewell, the hiker went on his way.

"The Pedestal of the Unown actually exists...?" Gently taking the map from his companion's hand, Mindwarp unrolled it to take a look. "From the looks of things, we need to cross these dunes just as we're entering and then make our way across the flat sand." He pointed each part out to Lightning as he spoke so she understood what he meant. "We'll have to be careful on the dunes. There aren't just wild Sandshrews in that desert."

"Other wild Pokémon, I'm guessing?" The psychic-type nodded in response to her question.

"Cacnea, Trapinch and the occasional Baltoy might try to take us on." He let out a soft sigh. "The first two aren't too bad to deal with, but the Baltoys might be a little difficult. They can resist psychic attack and electric-based attacks are useless on them." Lightning frowned, asking why he didn't simply use something like a fire-based attack. He huffed, trying not to let his patience wear too thin. After all, she didn't know how the convention in Hoenn worked and would need some prompting and explanation every so often. "Each Pokémon has one or two types that determine their strengths, resistances and weaknesses... and these types can restrict the moves that they can use. For instance, I'm a psychic type. I can resist a psychic-type attack but am weak to a dark-type attack."

"I don't really understand how this works..." Lightning's brows furrowed in confusion and Mindwarp exhaled a heavy sigh. He tried to explain how each type was related to the others, but realising that this didn't really matter, he went for another approach, explaining the types in relation to his own type and the types of the Pokémon they might encounter.

"Let's see if this makes it any clearer. Trapinch and Sandshrew are both ground-type Pokémon. Baltoy is both a ground-type and a psychic-type. All ground-type Pokémon are immune to any electric-based attack, and I happen to know one of those, so using that would be a waste of time and focus. The reason why I say that Baltoys will be trickier is because they are also psychic-type and psychic resists its own type, meaning that my psychic attacks won't damage it as much as they would on, say... a Sandshrew or a Cacnea." The pinkette prompted him to tell her more about the Cacnea. "Alright. Cacnea is a grass-type Pokémon that has no resistance or weakness to my psychic-type attacks but can resist the electric-type attack that I know."

"Can a Pokémon only learn so many moves or is there no limit?"

Mindwarp sighed. The one piece of Hoenn convention that he hated. "Each Pokémon can only learn four moves. In order to learn another, they have to forget one. It's a harsh truth... but some of the smarter Pokémon can stretch the limits and use their powers in different ways. I know I did. That part of the convention in this region is just ridiculous. Why does it even exist?! Why, I could just-" Lightning placed a firm hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. She was trying to tell him to stay focused on their main objective and he understood, nodding slowly. "I'm sorry, Lightning... sometimes the conventions of Hoenn annoy me."

"Focus." That one word spoken in a stern tone had him looking back down at the map. He tried to work out the shortest route that would cross as few sand dunes as possible, knowing that the fewer battles they got themseves into while making their way towards the Pedestal of the Unown, the better. Eventually he'd plotted out their route and was memorising it while Lightning thought about what she was going to do when she got back to Nova Chrysalia. The final thirteen days could approach at any moment...


End file.
